Down In The Depths
by lizteroid
Summary: A Maura centric fic, will be A/U but I hope you enjoy it. HetFic.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><em><strong>ONE<strong>_

She had no idea how they managed to get out alive, but they did. She and her daughter had been trapped in that house like dogs, being hunted, stalked by a predator. A predator neither of them had wanted to see again, ever. Stepping out into the much welcomed sunlight after so long down in the damp gloom below was a Heavenly sensation, as both mother and child felt the warmth of the sun's rays enveloping their cheeks, giving them a loving embrace to be back at ground level.

They had both been forced underground by the monster. That's what Maura had called him. The monster. Even though he was the girl's father, she had resorted to calling him that because of the vile things he had done over the years to both she and their child.

"Maura, I have to get to Maura!" came the gravelly, deep voice of the Detective Jane Rizzoli. She sounded distressed and in desperate need to get to the Medical Examiner, Maura noted this and furrowed her brows at the rapidly approaching Detective.

"Jane…" she exhaled, almost falling into Jane's embrace, holding her daughter close to them, in between them. The girl struggled to breathe as she found herself wedged between the women.

"It's okay Maura, I've got you now." Jane told the Medical Examiner and stroked over her hair, calming her down before she looked down to the daughter and pulled her closer to her slender body, holding onto her in a protective embrace.

Maura looked up at Jane and she gave her a questioning glance.

Jane just nodded, knowing what she was asking of her, "He's gone, Maur. He's not going to hurt you two anymore. You don't have to worry about him anymore. Okay?" she smiled softly, an encouraging, comforting smile down to her best friend.

"I know. I know..." Maura sighed and looked down to her daughter, she had began to hyperventilate, it was nothing new. She felt Jane grab her hand and with her other hand, she placed it over her pulse point on her neck, checking how fast her heart rate was before she wrapped a tight, yet comforting arm around the small child, "Jemima, it's okay now. Nobody can hurt us, we're safe." Maura told her child, gently turning the girl to face her and bending forwards as long as her legs, weak, would allow her to do so.

She knew that if she did happen to stumble though, Jane would catch her. She could rely on her friend that way, and Maura herself would do anything for Jane. Of course, the two had gotten off to a rocky beginning, when first impressions were supposed to count for everything back when they first met at work almost six years prior to the day.

Maura had flounced in, in her fashionable clothing, leaving Detectives, Sergeants and Officers with tongues lagging after her. She had returned from San Francisco after lecturing at the University of California. She'd had a romance there, more than a mere romance in fact. Maura had been married to another Doctor; Victor, who had been on the Doctors Without Borders programme, giving aid to those in the less evolved areas beaten down in poverty. Maura herself had been a part of the Doctors Without Borders which is where she had met her Victor in the first place.

The two had been too opposite though, and things had fizzled out slowly, and the way Maura had thought, surely. It hadn't been until she'd been appointed the new head of the Medical Examiner's office in Boston that she had discovered she was in fact, pregnant. Maura was pregnant with her estranged husband's child, and what was worse, she knew that this child was not going to grow up in an easy world, not with an indefinite pending divorce soon to strike.

Things had been a lot easier before her daughter had been born, not that she regretted becoming a mother in the slightest. No, Maura loved and cherished every single day being a mother to a dependable human being. Someone so small that they looked up at her for help with learning to tie a shoelace or learning to tell the time with her first wrist watch. Other than Bass, Maura had never really had anyone else she could love and care for as much as her daughter, Jemima Jane. And Maura had not felt love that strong for herself, ever.

Looking down to Jemima, she smiled gently, a tear cracking its way past her usually perfectly manicured brows and applied make up. She saw Jemima watched as it tracked down her cheek, before a tiny, stubby finger reached up to brush it away, "Mother, it's okay. You said we're safe now, and Aunt Jane is here with us too." Jemima told her mother, in such a comforting way that Maura completely broke down, leaving the poor girl watching her mother with raised brows before she looked up at her 'Aunt Jane' for guidance or any form of answer as to why Maura had suddenly began bawling in front of her.

Jane offered no words in response, she just nodded her head at Jemima in the direction of the Medical Examiner and the small child, who was in fact a miniature of Maura Isles, wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and clung to her. Not in a needy kind of way, but to offer her some solace and comfort in a familiar embrace. The child was rewarded with her mother's arms wrapping around her back and shoulders, holding her close as she slowly sank to the ground, keeping hold of her daughter protectively, as Jane and the other Detective's watched from a few feet away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><em><strong>TWO<strong>_

Looking to Maura and Jemima Jane as they sat across from her in her living room. Jo Friday was bouncing around the little girl as she wasn't paying much attention to the poor dog. Jo didn't know what she'd done to upset the six year old, but she tried to get her attention by yapping and nipping at her ribbons in her hair. Still, the girl ignored the poor dog until she grew tired and stopped yapping, Jo Friday made her way over to her dog bed and lay her head on the edge, watching Jemima Jane with a forlorned expression etched across her puppy face.

Maura mimicked her daughter's expression, she was sitting on the sofa with Jane beside her, just staring. Maura was in shock, of course and Jane knew that. She'd offered the Doctor, and her daughter some warm clothing to wrap around their shoulders but both had refused, they just wanted Bass and to be in sight of each other, and that's when Jane knew that something bad had gone down in that house, all those years up until they'd found Maura's ex husband dead, and Maura was outside with her daughter.

Jane looked to Jemima Jane, her Goddaughter. She'd been baptised a second time, to give her a middle name, taken from Jane's. The Detective had never felt so proud to hear that her best friend was giving her daughter her name as a middle name, and to be a role model for the child. Since Maura had moved to Boston, she and Jane had become so close that Jemima had grown up thinking that Jane was in fact her blood relative, her aunt as she'd been told to call her. With Jane watching this child grow up, she could tell when there was something not quite right with the girl, and now, there was something not quite right.

It wasn't that she'd just witnessed her father being killed and she'd stood with her mother, overlooking the body, but it was something else. Jemima was most definitely hiding something from Jane. And Jane was going to find out what it was, if that was the last thing she had to do.

"J.J. do you want some of that root beer float thing you always liked?" Jane smiled to the girl, who looked up and just shook her head.

Maura looked to Jane and swallowed a little, "Jane, I wish you'd call her by her name. J.J. makes her sound like a boy."

"Jemima Jane is a bit long winded, Maur." Jane sighed as she saw Maura's expression, "But, okay. I'm sorry." she turned her focus back to the girl, "How about some ice cream, Jemima?"

"No, thank you, Auntie Jane." Jemima replied, barely audible.

Jane nodded and sighed, looking to Maura, who was fidgeting. Maura never fidgetted, ever. Except for the time where her biological father, or as Jane liked to call him; the sperm donor, showed up to identify his son, her half-brother when he had been killed by another member of an opposing Irish mob gang, and she had picked up on this habit and copied it for days. Jane thought about things and she swallowed, Patrick 'Paddy' Doyle hadn't been around Maura and she didn't think he'd ever met with Jemima Jane, so why was Maura now fidgeting?

"I'd like some wine, Jane. If you have any?" Maura suddenly spoke up, looking up at the Detective, hopefully.

Jane furrowed her brows and shook her head, "Only beer, Maura. I could call Fr-"

"Beer will have to suffice then." Maura nodded a little.

Jane nodded and moved towards the kitchen before she swallowed and opened the fridge to get out two cold beers and a coke for Jemima, even if she didn't want a drink, Jane was going to fix her up a float, a special float. She fixed up the drinks and the phone began to ring out, she turned and saw that Jemima had jumped and was now well alert looking around the living for the source of the ringing. Jane hurried to answer the phone, "Hello?"

"Jane, it's me." answered Frankie, her brother, "We've got Bass, you want us to bring him over."

"That's be great Frankie, sure. And could you pick up a bottle of Maura's favourite wine, too?" Jane asked quietly into the receiver before she glanced over to see if Jemima had calmed down a little since the ringer had caused her a fright, "And some candies for J.J. Thanks Frankie, the door's open."

She looked over to Maura and she smiled, carrying over Jemima's drink first with a few straws and an umbrella before she went back past the Medical Examiner, gently touching her knee in a comforting way as she headed to get their beers. Finally Jane sat back down, next to Maura, seeing that Jemima had swooped straight onto the float she'd made her. She chuckled, "It's good, huh?" she asked the girl, who beamed back at her and nodded.

"Auntie Jane, can I put on a movie and lay in your bed?"

"Hey, J...emima, you don't have to ask me, okay? Let's got find you one, huh?" Jane smiled, standing and reaching her hand out to the girl, "You liked that fish one last time, what was that called again?" she asked the girl, playing stupid to try and get the girl to speak, making sure she was alright.

"Finding Nemo, silly!" Jemima giggled.

"Finding Nemo Silly? That's a big title for a little fish!"

"No!" the girl laughed even louder as she hopped up onto the bed and dug her way under the covers, "It's called Finding Nemo. I was calling you silly."

"I'm silly?" Jane questioned and quickly tapped the girl's nose, "You're the silly one, remember when you zipped your raincoat on while it was inside out?" Jane smiled.

Jemima giggled and nodded, looking up at Jane, one of her front teeth missing, "That was silly, wasn't it?"

"It was. It was..." Jane nodded and put on the movie Jemima had pointed to as she ran by the TV stand.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><em><strong>THREE<strong>_

Jane was smiling as she left the bedroom, Maura's daughter was really something, she often envied the relationship they had and looking forward to the day when she could be like that with her own offspring. When Jane returned back from the bedroom, she looked to Maura and sighed a little. She really didn't want to do this, not now and not to Maura. But the Detective knew she had to, if she was going to keep Maura sane and healthy, as well as crack this case, then she had to question Maura. She took her place back on the sofa next to the Medical Examiner, who even after the ordeal she'd been through looked as though she'd stepped off of a runway in Paris.

Turning to face the Medical Examiner, full on, Jane spoke up to her, "Maura, I know this isn't a good time to ask, and it probably never will be, but you know I have to..." Jane began, trying to gauge Maura's attention, "But, what happened back there? What happened at your house?" she asked the Medical Examiner, hoping to get answers to the questions she was going to ask her best friend in the next few minutes.

Maura turned her head a little to Jane, and for the first time in so long, she showed her vulnerable side. Maura felt as though she was a child again, the day her parents packed her things and had shipped her away to Paris to go to the boarding school she'd specifically applied to herself. That feeling had been one of the worst she had felt in her life, alongside when she was trying her immersion therapy for the first time, that had also been one of her worst experiences, emotionally. She looked to Jane, with tears gliding down her face and a dampened upper lip from the sniffling. Showing Jane this side of her, Maura felt as though she were showing her mother - her adoptive mother, Constance - who was most likely to tell her to stop blubbering and be a lady, Maura didn't know if Jane would be able to handle her in this way.

Jane took one look at Maura and she knew she had to wait to ask her the questions about what had happened, and she couldn't let anyone else her those questions. They were just too personsal, but Jane knew that if she took charge of the case, the Lieutenant might deem her findings as biased with having known the 'victims' involved. Watching Maura just sit there, gazing into the space before her, Jane watched another lone tear streak Maura's cheek, even in her disabile as it were, Maura's tears were even graceful.

"Jane, please." were Maura's first words on the subject since getting from the crime scene (her house) to Jane's place.

"Maura, I know...but eventually, soon...you're going to have to tell me, and possibly some other Detective's." she placed her hand over one of Maura's and realised she was cold and shaking, "Hey, let me get you a blanket, huh?" she frowned and looked around to see if the old throw was still over the arm of the sofa. Luckily, it was, so Jane grabbed it and unfolded it before tossing it gently around Maura, "Hey, the sooner you tell someone what happened, the better. You'll be able to move on past it." Jane tried to comfort her friend whilst still trying to make her see the light of what was going to happen.

"I-I can't, Jane. Not now..." Maura shook her head, grasping at the throw to pull it tighter around herself, as if containing herself in her own little world, safer and warm now, with Jane and Jemima, "Not now." she repeated and sighed a little.

"You can talk to me, you know? I'm not just a Detective, Maura. I'm your friend." Jane tried again, a different tactic, but also, she did want to listen and be a shoulder for Maura to cry on should she need it.

"I know..." she replied, in a barely audible tone, "I think I'd like to sleep now." she stated, this time louder, so her message was loud and clear also: 'I do not want to answer any questions about what happened, who my husband was, and how I came to be in that relationship.' Maura stood and looked to Jane, "Jemima's probably already fallen asleep, I can move her over, you're welcome to join us...I know how this couch is when you wake up in the morning..." she gave a half smile to Jane and started down the hallway to Jane's bedroom where Jemima had been watching the movie.

Getting into the bedroom, Maura noticed that Jemima was indeed asleep already and she smiled a little, stroking over her daughter's hair and releasing the throw so it fell onto the side of the bed, half on - half off, before she kneeled onto the bed, moving her hands under her daughter to scoot her over in the middle of the bed, so if Jane were to come into the bed, the girl would be safe between her mother and her 'aunt'.

As Maura moved the girl, she awoke and looked up at her mother, "Mommy, did you tell auntie Jane what happened?" she questioned, still in her half-slumber, the movie still quietly playing in the background and the night light churning over in the outlet, casting beautiful shapes onto the walls and ceilings.

"Shh honey, go back to sleep, you're exhausted." Maura smiled gently down to her daughter and stroked over her hair again, tucking her under the blanket and removing her socks. Maura always removed Jemima Jane's socks as she knew that the feet needed to breathe at night, "Get some rest." she told the child, leaning down to press her lips loving to Jemima's forehead, seeing the girl closing her eyes instantly.

"Did you tell me what?" Jane asked Maura quietly from the doorway, standing there, not threateningly but she had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Jane, please, not now." Maura whispered as she picked up the throw and began to fold it, before she placed it at the foot of the bed, and crossed to turn out the nightlight in the outlet as well as stop the movie that was playing. Once she had completed those tasks, Maura glanced back to the doorway and saw that Jane had moved to the spot on her side of the bed, she was looking down to Jemima as Maura began to undress.

"What does or doesn't she want me to know, Maura? What did your daughter do?" Jane asked, looking to Maura in the sliver of light that shone through the doorway, and she watched the Medical Examiner hot foot as she contemplated telling Jane what Jemima had done back at their house.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><strong><em>FOUR<em>**

Maura looked up at Jane from where she sat on the bed next to her daughter Jemima and she swallowed softly, fearing what she had hoped wouldn't get out to Jane for some time. However, she knew that she would probably have to tell Jane at least, but off the record. Maura, although she had not been brought up in the best family environment with her adoptive parents never home and attending boarding school in Paris until she was eighteen, the Medical Examiner had grown wise to family life was she'd met the father of her daughter, Jemima.

He had raised his younger brother, he had an idea of what it was like to look after someone. He had been the one. The one who'd taught her that freedom was so much more than it had cracked up to be, the one who she'd fallen desperately in love with, and then one who had impregnated her within only a few weeks of meeting. Before he had become part of her life, Maura didn't have the foggiest idea about motherhood, but she now knew that she had to whatever she could to protect her child.

She looked to Jane still, only now realising she'd been staring at the Detective and she moistened her lips, biding herself some time before she spoke up. Jane was waiting for her to speak up and tell her what Jemima had done, Maura just didn't know how to say it. It was when Maura was about to speak up, she heard her cellphone ringing out from the living room, she brushed past Jane who was still standing, leaning against the doorway of her bedroom, looking in on Jemima and wondering what that child of six could have done that was preventing Maura from telling her.

"Isles." she answered her cellphone curtly. She took a seat and swallowed, "What? I can't talk now." she spoke into the receiver, looking up as Jane came to join her, watching for anything that might have given away who she was speaking with, "Tomorrow." she said finally and hung up, looking down to the phone in her hand, shaking her head and exhaling calmly.

"Who was that?" Jane questioned.

Maura lifted her head and looked to Jane with a troubled expression, "My father."

"The sperm donor?" she corrected Maura.

"Jane, he knew what was happening, he was on his way to save us. Jemima and I." Maura sighed, "He...he got held up with something..."

Jane scooted along the couch to Maura then and rested her hand on the Medical Examiner's shoulder, "Maura, what happened back at your house? What did Jemima do that you don't want anyone to know about?" Jane didn't know if Maura hadn't heard what she'd asked or if she was just ignoring it and trying to keep of the subject but she spoke up.

"I always wondered about him...if he knew he was grandfather." she whispered a little and bit her lip, looking to Jane, "He knew the entire time. He knows about my life, Jane. He was at all of my graduations; Kindergarten, High School, Medical School...he knew I'd been married and divorced..."

"He knew about Victor? Why didn't he do something to stop him! That jerk gave you such a hard time, Maura..."

Maura sighed shakily, "So did Garrett..."

Jane looked at Maura, frowning deeply, "Garrett? Fairfield?"

"Yes."

"Maura, I-I don't understand."

Maura took a moment to prepare herself for what she was about to tell Jane, something only she knew now. Running her tongue over her lips, Maura then swallowed, "Garrett...was Jemima's father." she sighed and looked away.

"Mau-what...?"

"When I first moved back to Boston from San Francisco, I went to see Garrett, I'd missed him after so many years. He was the first man I ever loved, Jane. He was special." Maura nodded slowly before she continued, "We...saw each other a few times before Victor followed me. He proposed and we were married within a few weeks...I didn't tell Victor I was...pregnant."

"Oh?"

"By the time I told him, it was safe enough to let him assume that the baby was his, and it wouldn't matter if she were born early." Maura said softly, "When Garrett found out about Victor and I, he tried to tell me I'd made a mistake and married the wrong man, that his family were crazy about me."

"Maura, I knew you could've been a Fairfield but, I didn't know any of this, I had no idea." Jane sat, shaking her head in shock.

Maura raised her hand to Jane, telling her politely to cease, "By the time he found out I'd given birth, he wouldn't stop calling. He spent a lot of money hiring Detective's and Lawyers to try and fight me. Why do you think he went bankrupt?" she said to Jane, a tear in the corner of her eye, "Still, he continued to call. Victor wanted us to move back to San Francisco. It had gotten so bad, Jane. He made me decide; him or stay. Victor didn't deal very well with Garrett calling all the time, I think he got wise to Jemima not being his biological daughter." she commented miserably.

Jane placed her hand onto Maura's knee and gave it a comforting squeeze, looking into her best friend's eyes and seeing years of pain there, behind the usually smiling soft hazel, "Maura, you don't have to tell me, I didn't realise..."

"Jane, I want to." she sighed, "I have to..."

"When Garrett's father passed away, Garrett saw it as the perfect opportunity to murder Adam, the half-brother. Garrett needed the money to try and storm me and take Jemima from me. He didn't know that Victor had left me, but he also didn't know who my father was...and neither did I, not at the time anyway."

"So, what happened?"

"Garrett broke into our house a few times, we'd argue...he hit me once or twice. Made Jemima watch once, she was still so young, she didn't understand who he was or what he was doing." Maura swallowed and sniffled, "I just remember seeing her face, tears streaming down her-her cheeks when he hit me..." she shook her head, "Whenever he would come and 'visit' us, I wouldn't see him again for weeks after. I often wondered what happened until he was arrested for Adam's murder. He told me everything."

"Everything?" Jane questioned.

"How my father would find him and beat him, like he'd done to me. Garrett knew my father before I even did, just not a name."

"Maura, the guy's not your father! He just happens to share your DNA. He didn't raise you...like Garrett didn't raise Jemima." Jane tried to reason with her.

"Neither did Victor." Maura shook her head, "Jane, Patrick Doyle is more of a father to me than my father. My...adoptive father. Yes, he didn't raise me, he didn't see me growing up like my father did, but he did...just from afar." Maura told Jane, "Yes, Victor nor Garrett raised Jemima, but you can't compare my situation to hers, that's not fair."

Jane tried to lighten the mood then by saying, "Hey, she's got a killer aunt though!"

"An aunt who's personality is killer, or she is actually a killer...?"

Jane furrowed her brows then and looked to Maura before she swallowed and replied, "Both...?"

"Then she takes after you."


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><strong><em>FIVE<em>**

_"Then she takes after you." _Maura's words rang around in her mind as she looked to the Medical Examiner.

"Maura, what do you mean? She takes after me?" Jane looked to her best friend and frowned, wondering what the hell she meant.

Maura looked to Jane then and she sighed, "Jane, if I tell you...I don't want to risk this getting out." she told her best friend and bit her lip a little, fidgeting also before she added, "Jemima...she did something, back at the house. And, I can't tell you."

"Maura, come on..." Jane took her hand and frowned a little, "You can tell me."

"No, Jane. I can't. I have to protect my daughter." Maura replied before she added, "Korsak told me once, that 'you do what you have to do to protect family' and he was right. I have to protect her, I have to protect my Jemima."

"Yeah...yeah, you do." Jane sighed and nodded, leaning back into the sofa.

Maura was silent for a few moments, contemplating things before she finally spoke up, "Jane, I do want to tell you, it's just...you'll have to interrogate my daughter, she's too young for that. I couldn't allow it." she looked up at Jane and swallowed, fearing the collapse of their friendship nearing because of what she was keeping from Jane.

"Maura, you know you can tell me anything. And, is it that bad that you can't tell me? Why would I have to interrogate Jemima?" Jane was puzzled.

"Bad, Jane? You don't even know..." Maura exhaled with a saddened smile across her face, shaking her head before she looked to her friend beside her on the couch, with tears forming in her eyes once again. Maura really did want to tell Jane, she did.

"Maura, just tell me." Jane tried, softly touching the Medical Examiner's hand, coaxing her a little.

"It's not that easy, Jane."

"Then, take your time, Maur."

Maura shook her head, exhaling unsteadily as she looked to her lap, as if waiting for guidance. She took in a deep breath and seemed to hold it for what seemed an eternity to her before she finally blew it out and spoke up, almost inaudibly, "I'm scared, Jane. I'm scared for my daughter."

Jane frowned, she watched Maura's actions, her mannerisms. She seemed agitated and alert. Edgy. The Detective narrowed her eyes a little and she softly spoke then, "Scared about what?" she asked her friend, "And why?"

"About what happened. Back at the house."

"What happened back at the house, Maura? Tell me everything you can remember...take your time." Jane coaxed her more.

Maura moistened her lips before she finally looked to Jane and blinked several times, slowly though, processing everything Jane was telling her, asking of her. She nodded slowly and asked, "What if I tell you everything, and you have to tell somebody else? What happens then?"

"That would depend entirely on what you're going to tell Maura."

The Medical Examiner swallowed and she chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she once again contemplated telling Jane the events of the ordeal that had happened just hours earlier. Closing her eyes, Maura stretched out her neck, tilting her head backwards until she heard the satisfying click that followed the larynx stretching at the front of her throat.

Contemplation.

She continued to contemplate, Jane watching her the whole time until finally, she stood and shook her head, "I can't do this." she told her friend, "I can't. Jane, I'm sorry, Jemima and I will go stay at a hotel, I don't want to impose on you now."

"Maura! It's the middle of the night, well...morning, you can't leave now! And, besides you are not imposing. Tommy would be imposing. You, are a guest." Jane stated, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she began to smile to her friend. The smile did not work with Maura however, as Jane saw her moving towards the hallway, to probably go and rouse Jemima from her slumber to take her to a hotel.

"We'll leave Jane. You need rest, if you're working this case..." Maura glanced over her shoulder to the Detective behind her, she had followed Maura's journey before she stopped and looked to her feet, "We'll be gone by tomorrow." Maura announced nonchalantly, before she continued to the bedroom, checking on Jemima and tucking her under the covers protectively.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

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><p><strong><em>SIX<em>**

Waking up, Jane looked around her apartment, the first thing she saw was Maura's Birkin bag. Maura's bag. She was still there. The Detective roused herself from sleep and shook her head, looking around her open plan living and kitchen area for more clues as to Maura and her daughter still being there. She saw the shoes and coat Maura had been wearing, still draped over the counter where Jane had removed them from the Medical Examiner when the two had first arrived and she'd placed them there, intending to hang the coat up later on.

The Detective heard movement in the bedroom and decided to get up to make herself her morning coffee, allowing whoever it was awake to leave the room first before descending on them. Jane knew that both Maura and Jemima would need time after what they'd been through, especially after what they'd been through. Jane still didn't know exactly what that was and she couldn't even begin to guess but she knew it was most definitely horrific from the way Maura was being around her daughter.

As Jane was standing at the counter, wiping the sleep from her eyes and hovering by her percolator, the bedroom door opened. She turned around to see Jemima standing there in the middle of the hallway. Jane swallowed, "Hey, J.J, everything okay?" she asked the girl, turning around fully to look at her.

"Momma's gone." the girl said.

"Gone, sweetie? Where did she go?" Jane asked the girl, moving towards her.

"She left, with a man." Jemima replied and frowned a little.

"Who was it? What did he look like, Jemima?"

"He was tall."

Jane sighed slightly aggravated with the short, unhelpful answers the child was giving her in response to the questions she was asking her. She raked her fingers through her hair and she grabbed at her cellphone, dialling her brother's number, "Frankie, can you come over, I need you to watch Jemima for a while. Okay. See you soon." she threw her phone back onto the counter and looked to Jemima, "Sweetie, come here, I need you to tell me about this man your mother left with."

Jemima walked over to Jane and looked up to her until the Detective crouched down to speak with her. She felt Jane's arms wrap around her and she looked into Jane's dark eyes, knowing she wanted to know more information that Jemima had. The girl swallowed and she bit her lip, "Momma kissed him. She looked happy he was here."

"He was here? In the apartment?" Jane questioned.

"Yes, my mom let him inside. I saw them kissing and she told me to go back to bed, and she would bring me a present when she comes back later." Jemima nodded.

"Did he have a car? Did you see his car?"

"No. But, I remember him. I remember he came to our house and he argued with my daddy."

"He argued with your daddy? About what J.J?"

"I don't know. My mom saw me and put me back to bed, I heard the door bang, it was loud and then my mom and daddy argued too."

"God, where is Frankie?" Jane hissed to herself, looking to the clock that hung on the kitchen wall.

"Is momma in trouble, Aunt Jane?"

"No, no sweetie, she's fine." Jane told the child, she did not want that child to worry. Jane was beyond worried though, she wanted to know who this man was. She had an inkling of who it might be, but she wasn't sure of it. She looked to Jemima and smiled, "You want some chocolate milk?"

"Who is the man momma was with?" Jemima asked, standing at the counter while Jane got out the milk and a glass for her, while they waited on Frankie getting there to take care of the girl, "I don't know his name."

"I'm unsure sweetie, here." Jane smiled setting the milk down and then patting the girl on the head, "Uncle Frankie will be here soon."

"Yay! I miss uncle Frankie!" Jemima whooped and sipped from the glass, looking up at Jane with wide eyes.

"Hey, what did he promise you the last time you saw him? Was it hotdogs and baseball?" Jane smiled to the girl, trying to get her to think of anything but her mother and the mystery man Maura had left with early that morning.

"NO!Red Sox and cheeseburger!" Jemima corrected Jane.

"Oh, cheeseburger! It's a good thing you remember things J.J. you'd make a brilliant Detective one day!" Jane joked with the child.

"I'd like to be one." Jemima blushed then and looked down to her bare feet shyly, "I want to be just like you, Auntie Jane."

Jane found herself choked up for a moment or so as she processed the words that Jemima had said to her; _I want to be just like you_. She swallowed and looked to the child who was stepping from one foot to the other in most bashful sense, her face almost ashen as she glanced up at the Detective and quickly dropped her head back to her feet again. Softly, Jane scooped the girl in her arms and held her close, "You don't want to be like your mom?" Jane questioned.

"I like her clothes and shoes, I dress up in them sometimes, but I don't like momma's job. The dead smell and bodies scare me." she said to Jane.

Just as Jane was about to ask Jemima how she knew what the bodies looked and smelled like, Frankie turned the handle and the door swung open, revealing him standing there with his arms open, ready to receive the already rushing Jemima as Jane had let her down. She watched and then sighed, "I...I gotta head out Frankie." she gestured to Maura's things on the table and then to Jemima, "Maura left her purse, I have to get them to her..." she gave Frankie 'the look'. The look that told him to keep Jemima safe on all accounts, "I'll be back later on...see you two later!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note:: _Yes, I had a dream one night, this was it. I played Maura's daughter...it was weird.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong><em>SEVEN<em>**

Maura smiled gently as she sat in the car with him, halted at the stop light. Gently, she turned to gaze at him, it had been a while since they saw each other and the time had been fairly kind to him. Maura watched as he waited on the red light to turn to green so they could continue their journey, she had missed him. A lot. He was so masculine, she felt safe with him.

Jane on the other hand was driving around the streets of Boston trying her luck at finding Maura with this mystery man who'd whisked her away earlier that morning. Jane needed to find Maura, she could feel it in her gut; Maura was in danger. Or, at least she thought so.

"How is she doing?" he asked Maura, decelerating as the car approached another stop light.

Maura sighed a little, "She keeps asking about her father...I hate keeping things from her, I know how it feels to have someone keep something so big from you." she was referring to her own childhood, until her cousin eventually broke the truth to her about being adopted.

"You should tell her Maura."

"She killed her father. I can't tell her the man she grew up calling 'dad' was not her father." Maura shook her head, "What would she think? She's too young for the truth, but I know I have to tell her."

"I can be there if you want me to, for moral support." he smiled, gently taking her hand a little.

"And cause her more confusion?" Maura shook her head and sighed again, "I couldn't do that to her...but, thank you. Thank you for coming back after so long, I missed you..."

"I missed you too. I'm sorry I've been a stranger for so long, you know how it is..."

She nodded and looked to him, "You don't have to explain to me, I know how it is. You're here now." He nodded softly before tucking some of her hair behind her ear. Maura sighed softly, watching him, she had really missed him. So much. She hated that she didn't see him for years, and then when he did come, it was only for a week or so.

Meanwhile, Jane was rushing around in her car like crazy, looking for Maura and wondering who the hell had come for her. She tried calling the Medical Examiner's cell again, the fifth time already to which she then remembered, _shit! She left it at my place._ Jane was praying that she wasn't too late, and that things were not for the worst.

Maura sighed as the car pulled up outside a house. He parked and made sure none of the neighbours were watching before he pulled open the door for her, taking Maura's hand and pulling her out of the car so the could get inside quickly. He made sure of the quickly part. Once inside the house, behind closed doors, she looked up at him as he pulled her in for a kiss. A deep, passionate kiss.

"God, Maura I've missed you." he told her, pulling back briefly before he dived in once more, claiming her lips again.

"I've missed you too, I..." she sighed, trailing off.

He pulled her close to him, to his chest. And he smiled feeling her there once again after so long. His smile faded, however when he felt a minute racking against him, coming from Maura. Looking down, he saw that she was crying. Using his thumb, he tilted her face to look up at him before using his forefinger to wipe away the tears that had spilled over her lashes onto her cheeks, streaking some mascara in the wake, "Hey. Hey listen, we're together now. It's all going to be okay, Maura." he told her gently.

It was in that moment, Maura clung onto him. She sniffled back before she looked up at him again, "But how long are you here for?" she asked.

"Maura, I'll be here until you want me to leave."

"Never..." she sighed, whispering it to him.

"There is your answer." he smiled down to her before gently pressing his lips to hers once more, "Maura, I just want to hold you, it's been too long."

She nodded as he took her hand and they moved into the living room, she saw the place was nicely decorated and there were comfortable looking couches in the center of the room, pointing towards the log fire, which wasn't blazing at that moment, but she could tell it would definitely give an amazing glow and warmth to the room when it was. Maura followed him over to the couch and waited for him to lay before she was tugged down gently, to lay with him, spooning.

"I've missed you..." she sighed contently, "Ian..." she whispered, drifting off, content she was reunited with him once again.


End file.
